Cherished {Five Minute Friday}

January 18, 2013 ~ Emily ~ Leave a comment

CHERISHED

I’m writing a guest post for Pure & Simple (check these ladies out – I love the heart and vision behind their blog and the design is beautiful) and the theme is Cherish. My mind has been full of this word for the past week, so it was fun that Lisa-Jo picked cherished as this week’s word for Five Minute Friday.

For fear of using all the content from my guest post, I’m going to avoid talking about my husband or marriage or love in these five (now three) minutes.

Cherish is a beautiful sentiment. I appreciate the nuances of value and treasure embedded in the meaning. To cherish is to hold tightly, to remember, to keep something close.

The things you cherish are special; they have meaning. I recently went through my stuffed animals on a trip home and more than the bunny (because they were all bunnies) itself, I cherish each one because fond memories are attached to the object.

The people you cherish are dear and beloved. You treasure moments of laughter, of tears, of living life with that person. Whether they are near or far, you cherish those memories because you value time spent with them.

I recently read Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. The challenge to count joys has been a fruitful exercise for me. So also, I think, would counting cherished moments, cherished people, and cherished things in my life. I would not be able to deny the many blessing God has given and continues to give.

Bread of Life

January 17, 2013 ~ Emily ~ 3 Comments

A fresh loaf of bread sits in stillness on the counter. Steam escapes from the crust, breathing its warm breath into the air. Grains burst above a slightly misshapen surface, evidence of being kneaded by hand. The dome of baked dough smells of yeast and toasted wheat.

This simple loaf of bread communicates with the senses. Its warmth speaks of life and growth. Its nuts and grains and kernels announce the source of each ingredient – seeds from soil providing a substance to create sustenance for those daily walking on said ground. Its smell singing a siren song to hungry mouths.

Bread is an elemental, earthy part of sustaining our physical life. It is equally at the root of sustaining our spiritual life. The bread we break around the table keeps our body nourished. The bread we break in communion is a reminder of the Body broken to keep our souls from perishing.

God uses this humble food to illustrate Jesus’ life-giving power.

I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

{John 6:32, 33, 35}

Bread of My Life

I adore bread. Toast and tea in the afternoon. Bread and jam if I wake up hungry at night. A sandwich on thick slabs of rosemary currant bread for lunch. You get the idea. If left to my own devises, I would consume bread at every meal.

I feel satisfied when I eat bread. It expands to fill my stomach, leaving me full and warm – content. Bread is comforting and safe. It reminds me of youth and PB&J in my lunchbox.

Oh that I would come to Jesus, the God-proclaimed Bread of Life, with the same love and excitement that I feel for plain old sliced bread.

When I feel the hunger pangs of fear and anxiety, do I eat of His word? When I am thirsty for wisdom, do I ask for His knowledge to quench my desire? When I feel empty and burdened, do I let Him fill me up?

How do you approach the Bread of Life?

Worst Case Scenario

January 11, 2013 ~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

We have consulted physician after physician in vain, till we are quite convinced that they can do nothing for us and that we must trust to our own knowledge of our own wretched constitutions for any relief.

{Diana Parker in Sanditon, by Jane Austen}

Jane Austen gave me my first look in to the mind of a hypochondriac. I was amused by the Parker family and their ailing constitutions, on which they blamed just about everything. It wasn’t until I began to recognize some of their behavior in myself that I gave their condition more than a laugh.

I may not be a Susan or Diana Parker, but I do tend toward medical anxiety. My aches and pains speak loudly and they generally shout the worst case scenario. Migraine? I must have a brain tumor. Chest hurts? Probably early signs of cardiac arrest, regardless of the five minutes I spent on the rowing machine yesterday.

The Unresolved

I’m in the throws of waiting on test results for symptoms that could be serious or could be absolutely nothing. Having unresolved health issues is giving my anxiety levels a run for their money. Some days I am confident that my symptoms are a product of stress and other days I’m sure they are life threatening. (Laughing is acceptable here. I laugh at myself, too. But if you’re a medically anxious person, you know that I’m totally serious about my train of thought no matter how ridiculous it sounds).

For whatever reason, God broke through my medically wound-up heart with this round of health anxiety. He’s shown me the path to take and this time, I’m choosing to take it.

Live Like You Were Dying

I don’t really like the ubiquitous platitude, “live like you were dying”. It just seems pithy, like a truth, but twisted. The fact is, we all are in the process of dying, just, for some, it’s not as imminent.

However, internalizing the reality of death from life on Earth does help keep priorities straight.

Even though I’m probably exaggerating my near death state in my head, being forced to contemplate what really matters in light of how fragile this life is has been a good dose of reality and perspective. I don’t like to think of the time I’ve wasted hating winter, feeling fugly (fat + ugly, don’t we all have those days…) or dwelling on any number of other unimportant things that can suck the joy out of life.

My hope isn’t in the here and now, but I marvel at the good things God has abundantly given us to enjoy while we are here. Should I be distracted by the negatives and not enjoy the bounty and good set before me?

What a direct slap in the face to God if I let past relationships inhibit loving my husband, and receiving his love fully; to let winter weather stop me from enjoying the natural beauty of Northern Idaho; to let worldly beauty standards shape the way I think about and treat my body.

I believe the earthly pleasures found in love, community, and nature are but shadows of the pleasure we will have worshipping God in Heaven and the new Earth; but, the potential of losing these pleasures, however slim, makes me realize how easily I spurn them under selfish pretenses.

What does that say to the God who so lovingly provided them? How does that effect my relationships?

If medical anxiety is what it takes for me to not sweat the small stuff, then I guess, I’m more like the Parkers than I thought.

Opportunity {five minute friday}

January 4, 2013 ~ Emily ~ Leave a comment

Despite the fact that I don’t do well with change, I have seized the opportunity to do some interesting things. Interesting, as in amazing but sure to thrust me into new and different situations that will stretch my ability to adapt and trust that God is in control.

I chose a college in the Midwest.
Studied abroad in two foreign countries.
In a whiz-bang decision, I became an innkeeper on the Central Coast of California.
Did a culinary internship at a bed and breakfast in Maine.
Spent two weeks in Serbia and two weeks in Kenya back-to-back.
Got married and moved to Northern Idaho.

All of these adventures started with the unknown – new locations and new jobs, not having any friends, and not have a specific timeline.

These opportunities for travel, fun, service, and education turned out to be opportunities for dependence and trust.

God gave me the opportunity to be adventurous and, with the same breath, extended His hand – an invitation to journey together along these fun but primitive roads. He gave me an opportunity to conquer change and the unknown with His strength and His love.

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Listen up, it’s Luke!

December 24, 2012 ~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

I like Luke.

He’s a doctor – always a plus.

He’s a details guy – and isn’t ashamed of his knack for keeping facts straight.

He’s confident – not ashamed to share his gifts.

In a letter to Theophilus, he makes a bold statement:

It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very frist, to write to you an orderly account…that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. {Luke 1:3-4}

I don’t know about Theophilus, but I’m paying attention!

With that type of introduction, you better believe I’m going to note every detail Luke records.

Luke doesn’t begin his Gospel account with Jesus, but with the birth narrative of John the Baptist. I picture John’s soon-to-be parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, as the older couple at church who immediately give you grandparent vibes. Their faith was time tested and earnest, their hearts full of a genuine love for God.

But, they didn’t have kids. Children seemed like a dream of the past since they were both pretty old. God performs a miracle in Elizabeth’s barren womb and she gives birth to the man who would “go before [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

In just a few paragraphs, Luke shares these happenings and I’m struck by the details he deems important enough to include. Luke pays attention to the circumstances surrounding Gabriel, an angel of the the Lord, appearing to Zacharias to tell him the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy- therefore, so do I.

“So it was, that while he was serving…” (1:8) – Zacharias was fulfilling his priestly duties. He was actively doing what God had called him to do – serve in the temple. I may not be a priest, but I am certainly called to serve God, serve the body of Christ, and serve my family. Am I doing that actively, regardless of my current circumstances?

“And the whole multitude of people was praying outside…” (1:10) – Last time I checked, a multitude was a whole ton of people. This large group of people weren’t chatting or sitting idly, they were praying. God is visible through prayer. I need to pray. We need to pray. Do I live a lifestyle of prayer? Am I encouraging my community to pray?

Luke used 15 percent of this story to communicate these actions. He could have focused on Elizabeth’s feelings or the town’s reaction. Instead, he devotes space in his narrative to emphasize the power of service and prayer.